Pesticide residues from the plants and soil where farmworkers spend much of their day pose serious health risks for them. Often invisible to the naked eye, the residues cling to skin, clothing, hats, boots, tools, lunch coolers, car seats, and any other items in the work environment.

Farmworkers often do not even realize they are bringing these residues into their homes, where their children are then exposed to toxic substances that can make them sick. Sometimes workers will bring pesticides used at work to their home to take care of a pest problem. These products are not for residential use and are very dangerous to families when used in the home. All of the situations mentioned above are known as take home exposure.

Currently, AFOP’s Health & Safety Programs has a Limiting Exposure Around Families (LEAF) curriculum, which seeks to mitigate and increase awareness of these take home exposure risks to families through a training curriculum and other educational materials. All training and materials are in a bilingual, low-literacy format that offers advice on how to reduce or even eliminate the possibility of exposing their children to pesticide residues